Daily Update | June 29, 2017
Raquel Dominguez // 6/29/17 //
The Supreme Court's travel ban decision has resulted in confusion. Some members of Congress have expressed concern over American escalation in Syria without legislative authorization. President Trump’s former campaign chairman belatedly registered as an agent of a foreign country yesterday. President Trump has issued a statement of administration policy supporting Kate’s Law.
IMMIGRATION
The Supreme Court's travel ban ruling may have permanently bolstered the rights of visa applicants with ties to the United States to challenge visa denials, writes Cyrus Mehta for The Insightful Immigration Blog.
- Confusion abounds as to what the Supreme Court’s travel ban means in practice (The Hill).
- Jonathan Blitzer outlines the different stakeholders’ reactions in The New Yorker.
- Iran promises reciprocal action (Reuters, WSJ).
- Fine distinctions may lead to discrimination (The Guardian).
- The Supreme Court’s travel ban decision abandons refugees that the United States should be assisting, argues Benjamin Davis on the Jurist.
President Trump has issued a statement of administration policy supporting Kate’s Law, which can be found here.
- Attorney General Jeff Sessions support for the House Resolution can be found here.
- H.R. 3004 can be found here.
- David Bier with Cato at Liberty highlights the drawbacks of the bill.
- Douglas Berman, writing for Sentencing Law and Policy, remains critical.
Uncertainty regarding immigrants, liberty, and due process makes the Supreme Court’s decision to order reargument in Jennings v. Rodriguez disappointing, explains Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia on SCOTUSblog.
- Kevin Johnson, also on SCOTUSblog, weighs in on the Court’s immigration enforcement non-decisions.
President Trump has called for an overhaul of the United States immigration system that could result in a system similar to Canada’s (NYT).
Three lawmakers have asked President Trump and the Pentagon to intervene in the Department of Defense’s proposal to terminate the contracts of undocumented soldiers (WaPo).
SAFETY AND JUSTICE
Some members of Congress have expressed concern over American escalation of affairs with Syria absent Congressional authorization, asserting that AUMF does not provide blanket license (The Hill).
- Deborah Pearlstein thinks the strongest argument for Presidential power in regards to Syria comes from Article II (Balkanization).
- United States Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis touts the lack of a Syrian chemical attack as proof of President Trump’s strength (WSJ).
- Iran has accused the United States of planning “a brazen” intervention (WaPo).
The charge sheet from a recent Guantanamo military commission case may lead to a major legal challenge, predict Ryan Goodman and Steve Vladeck on Just Security.
REGULATION
The Republican campaign to repeal the Affordable Care Act focuses on tax cuts for the rich and therefore fails to deliver “freedom,” argues Nick Bagley on Take Care.
The Department of Education’s unlawful opacity means less protection for students, contends Alexandra Brodsky on Take Care.
President Trump’s Executive Order 13,771, which regards eliminating two regulations for every one implemented, is constitutional, theorizes Sam Batkins on the Regulatory Review.
CHECKS AND BALANCES
President Trump has quickly amassed a large number of lawsuits (Bloomberg).
Justice Gorsuch lives up to expectations as a conservative judge similar to Scalia (LA Times)
FEDERALISM
The Supreme Courts decision in Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer illustrates the Court’s divisions on the Religion Clause and federalism, write Ira Lupu and Robert Tuttle for Take Care.
RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE
President Trump’s publicly reported events involving Russia can be seen as acts of rapprochement or as quid pro quo, posits Ryan Goodman with his timeline of events on Just Security.
President Trump’s former campaign chairman belatedly registered as an agent of a foreign country yesterday (WSJ, NYT).
- Manafort’s disclosure can be found here.
- Matthew Kahn at Lawfare breaks down what the disclosure says.
And that's our update today! Thanks for reading. We cover a lot of ground, so our updates are inevitably a partial selection of relevant legal commentary.
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